New On Our Blog

A Sweet Sign of Summer: Rare Watermelons Are Back

April 22, 2015 | Sheryl Joy

By Sheryl Joy, NS/S Seed Distribution Coordinator. Published on April 22, 2015. From the rich recesses of the NS/S seed vault, we are happy to bring you four watermelon varieties that have not previously been publicly available. If your garden is a good size for summer’s favorite sprawling vine, ...

Meet NS/S Supporter Brooke Pickrell

March 10, 2015 | Betsy Armstrong

We recently asked our members and supporters to send in their chile stories, and Brooke Pickrell of Ann Arbor, MI, shares her fascinating experience of growing the plants in the middle of Midwest winter (yes, it's possible!). Pickrell, an Arizona born and raised who moved to Michigan in 2011, gre...

All About Chiles

February 20, 2015 | Melissa Kruse-Peeples

By Melissa Kruse-Peeples, NS/S Conservation Program Manager. Whether it is red or green in New Mexico, spicy jalapeños of Tex-mex recipes, or fiery chiltepines of the borderlands, chiles are synonymous with Southwestern cuisine and central to our culinary identity. Chiles are also a large par...

Pop Science

January 23, 2015 | Joy Hought

By Joy Hought, NS/S Research & Education Program Manager and Melissa Kruse-Peeples, Conservation Program Manager. Published on January 23, 2015. The earliest varieties of maize must certainly have had small kernels as hard as glass.– Edgar Anderson & Hugh Cutler, Races of Maize In many wa...

Cowpea Season

December 23, 2014 | Sheryl Joy

By Sheryl Joy, NS/S Seed Distribution Coordinator. Published on December 23, 2014. ‘Tis the season … when the humble cowpea has its moment of fame! For those with African-American or Southern roots, Hoppin’ John is the traditional meal on New Year's Day. There are many variations on the Hoppin’ J...

The Squash Chronicles, Continued: Grow Winter Squash in the Summertime with this Crazy Old Trick!

October 28, 2014 | Sheryl Joy

By Sheryl Joy, NS/S Seed Distribution Coordinator. Published on October 28, 2014. So what’s the trick?? All squash grows in the summer time! But squash terminology is undoubtedly a bit confusing. It’s not unusual for us here at NS/S to get questions like "What sort of winter squash should I plant...

Recovering and Reviving Our Original Diet

September 25, 2014 | Betsy Armstrong

By Elizabeth Pantoja, NS/S Conservation Intern. Published September 25, 2014. Recently I came across some great information put together by Aztec Stories that talked about the importance of including our original foods in our present diet. By this I mean eating foods that have originally grown he...

Diversity in Amaranth

September 20, 2014 | Joy Hought

By Joy Hought, NS/S Research & Education Program Manager. Published on September 20, 2014. A few days ago we harvested mature stalks from about 15 amaranth accessions at the NS/S Conservation Farm, in preparation for our workshop on October 4th. Melissa, our Conservation Program Manager, then...

Introducing the Cucurbitaceae

September 01, 2014 | Liz Fairchild

By Liz Fairchild, Retail Assistant Maybe, like me, you’ve wondered before about distinctions between varieties within the squash family, or cucurbits. For example, all the squash packets in our collection state that one may consume the fruit "when small and immature as summer squash, and mature a...

The Beauty of Huitlacoche

August 26, 2014 | Melissa Kruse-Peeples

By Melissa Kruse-Peeples, NS/S Conservation Program Manager. Published on August 26, 2014. Corn is a versatile ingredient. It is fresh roasted, ground to make cornbread or tortillas, dried and reconstituted into posole, and everything in between. But there is one way to eat and cook corn that may...